Day 13 - Oudtshoorn

The night was freezing cold. Somehow our room was also damp, so we didn't really get warm, even with the air conditioning. So we sat at breakfast a bit tired and cold, and had to warm up from the inside with tea and coffee. But the day was going to be beautiful and sunny again, like all the others except one. Well, our waitress immediately took a liking to us because we were Germans. She had taught herself German with great effort and was now practicing with us. A dream.

After breakfast, we drove on a winding road to the Cango Caves, a huge cave complex near Oudtshoorn with many fabulous and gigantic stalactites and stalagmites. I have seen some caves like this before, but I think this was the most beautiful and largest one so far, with many different chambers. Very interesting. Then we went to the ostrich farm. If you haven't been to an ostrich farm, you haven't been to Oudtshoorn. We were going to be the only visitors this afternoon. In the waiting room before the tour started, we all got a coffee in small cups, sat on magnificent historic chairs, and admired the old photos from 1910 around us. Of course, we had to fool around again, acted like countesses and princesses, and talked nonsense. But it was funny. The tour was highly interesting. It was a bit about the history of the city and its 'feather barons'. In the past, 1 kg of white ostrich feathers was worth as much as a kilo of gold. Unbelievable. Today, a large part of the profit is made from the leather and then from the meat. I almost bought a wallet, they were really nice, but €144 was a bit too much for me. After the lecture, we went to the ostriches themselves. We were allowed to feed them, pet them, and hug them, and we were told more about their anatomy. In the end, we were even allowed to stand on an egg. Each egg can withstand 150 kg of weight. Amazing.

The day was still young and we didn't know what to do. The plan was to go back to Oudtshoorn for now. But on the way, I saw a sign 'Olive Tasting' on a huge olive farm. Alright then. We were also hungry. So off we went. We bumped along an unpaved road, olive trees as far as the eye could see on both sides, and arrived at a stately building. There we were welcomed, led into the garden, seated at a table, and served a platter with bread, various olives, chutney, olive jam, and something else. A dream. It was delicious. I had to do a bit of shopping for home as well.

Then it wasn't long until evening. I could write a bit more for the blog, pet the cats at the hotel, and pack a bit for tomorrow.